After receiving a warning from the city, an Ohio woman says she had no intentions of taking down a nearly 10-foot-tall werewolf monument from her yard.
The werewolf was purchased as a Halloween decoration by Mary Simmons of Dayton. She soon decided to keep it up all year.
“He’s kind of become my house mascot,” she said. “I kind of look at it as a security thing. Who wants to break into a house with a 9.5-foot werewolf sitting outside of it? I know I wouldn’t.”
Over different seasons and holidays, Simmons has dressed the wolf in various theme-related outfits.
“We’re going to get a big Hawaiian shirt and maybe some sunglasses,” Simmons said.
The werewolf, who Simmons gave the name Paul, now has a Facebook profile with more than 2,000 fans.
Simmons claims that most of her neighbors have been amenable to Phil’s presence in her yard. But at least one of them anonymously complained to the city of Dayton, which then issues Simmons with a warning.
According to city officials, they currently have no intention to remove the werewolf.
Simmons says she has taken precautions to make sure Phil’s presence is safe for her neighbors and she intends to keep him in her yard.
“I don’t want somebody walking by and his head falls off, hitting them,” she said. “I try to treat people like I want to be treated and I wouldn’t want that to happen to me.”
